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  • Symphony for the City of the Dead

  • Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad
  • Written by: M. T. Anderson
  • Narrated by: M. T. Anderson
  • Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (10 ratings)

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Symphony for the City of the Dead

Written by: M. T. Anderson
Narrated by: M. T. Anderson
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Publisher's Summary

In September 1941, Adolf Hitler's Wehrmacht surrounded Leningrad in what was to become one of the longest and most destructive sieges in Western history - almost three years of bombardment and starvation that culminated in the harsh winter of 1943-1944. More than a million citizens perished. Survivors recall corpses littering the frozen streets, their relatives having neither the means nor the strength to bury them. Residents burned books, furniture, and floorboards to keep warm; they ate family pets and - eventually - one another to stay alive.

Trapped between the Nazi invading force and the Soviet government itself was composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who would write a symphony that roused, rallied, eulogized, and commemorated his fellow citizens - the Leningrad Symphony, which came to occupy a surprising place of prominence in the eventual Allied victory.

This is the true story of a city under siege: the triumph of bravery and defiance in the face of terrifying odds. It is also a look at the power - and layered meaning - of music in beleaguered lives. Symphony for the City of the Dead is a masterwork thrillingly told and impeccably researched by National Book Award-winning author M. T. Anderson.

©2015 M. T. Anderson, original book published by Candlewick Press (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
United States History & Culture Biographies
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What the critics say

YALSA Nonfiction finalist, 2016

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  • TK
  • 2023-04-18

Best read audiobook I've heard in awhile.

Can't wait to hear this performer again and the book itself I can't stop telling people about.

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